Craft pom poms

Sometimes the simplest stuffs makes the best toys for children. Like these craft pom poms, Xue has been playing with them for more than three months (and counting) but because there are many ways to use them in activities, he hasn't got bored of them yet. They beat many fanciful and expensive toys hands down. I bought these pom poms from Daiso, just $2 per pack. So.worth.it. Here are some activities we have done so far with pom poms.

When he was younger and he was learning how to pick things up, these pom poms were perfect to develop his fine motor skills. He would pick them up one by one, explored the texture and dropped them into small containers like the ice cube trays or Vitagen bottles. There was a day that he was very intrigued by these 'hairy pom poms', he sat down for a long time to pluck out the 'hair' of one pom pom. That one pom pom is all bald now!

Next, I gave him a little ice cube spade for him to learn scooping. Whenever he mastered a skill, I have to be quick enough to anticipate what he wants to learn next and switch things around. So when he was confident with using a spade, I gave him a Chinese soup spoon. He's getting quite good with it now and he can scoop up the pom poms one by one and transfer them to another container.

Looks like I need to increase the difficulty of the task soon, maybe giving him a smaller spoon or a pair of tongs. Maybe these pom poms will come in handy many years later when he's learning how to use chopsticks too!